mini-stroke

Among the top five “Stroke Myths” on the website of the National Stroke Association is “Stroke only strikes the elderly.” A man who shattered that myth and lived to recount the experience is Mark McEwen, who turns 60 in September. From 1987 to 2002, McEwen was the face of morning television on CBS, first as a weatherman, then as an entertainment reporter and finally as cohost of The Early Show. Traveling with his wife, Denise, in 2005 – he had …

There’s a debate growing among doctors over whether drugs are just as good – or better – at preventing strokes as carotid surgery or carotid stents to keep neck arteries free from plaque. The issue has major implications for Medicare, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, because a number of stent manufacturers are pushing Medicare to pay for carotid stent placement in people with no stroke symptoms. This would greatly expand stent use because an estimated 100,000 or more …